[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 163 (Friday, August 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50765-50766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21529]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission


Notice of Scoping Meeting and Soliciting Scoping Comments for an 
Applicant Prepared Environmental Assessment Using the Alternative 
Licensing Process

August 18, 2003.
    a. Type of Application: Alternative Licensing Process.
    b. Project No.: 2101.
    c. Applicant: Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD).
    d. Name of Project: Upper American River Project.
    e. Location: In the Rubicon River, Silver Creek, and South Fork 
American River watersheds in El Dorado and Sacramento counties, 
California. The project occupies federal lands within the El Dorado 
National Forest.
    f. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r).

[[Page 50766]]

    g. Applicant Contact: David F. Hanson, Project Manager, Hydro 
Relicensing at (916) 732-6703.
    h. FERC Contact: James Fargo at (202) 502-6095; e-mail 
[email protected].
    j. Deadline for filing scoping comments: September 17, 2003.
    All documents (original and eight copies) should be filed with: 
Magalie R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 
First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure require all 
interveners filing documents with the Commission to serve a copy of 
that document on each person on the official service list for the 
project. Further, if an intervener files comments or documents with the 
Commission relating to the merits of an issue that may affect the 
responsibilities of a particular resource agency, they must also serve 
a copy of the document on that resource agency.
    Scoping comments may be filed electronically via the Internet in 
lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. 
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's 
Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the ``e-library'' link.
    k. The Upper American River Project facilities consist of several 
existing reservoirs, a series of powerhouses and about 180 miles of 
transmission line. The project has a total installed capacity of 
688,000 kilowatts.

Scoping Process

    SMUD will complete and file a preliminary Environmental Assessment, 
in lieu of Exhibit E of the license application. This differs from the 
traditional process, in which an applicant consults with agencies, 
Indian tribes, NGOs, and other parties during preparation of the 
license application and before filing the application, but the 
Commission staff performs the environmental review after the 
application is filed. The alternative procedures are intended to 
simplify and expedite the licensing process by combining the pre-filing 
consultation and environmental review processes into a single process, 
to facilitate greater participation, and to improve communication and 
cooperation among the participants.
    SMUD expects to file the APEA and the license application for the 
Upper American River Project with the Commission by July 2005. Although 
SMUD's intent is to prepare an EA, there is the possibility that an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be required. Nevertheless, 
this meeting will satisfy the NEPA scoping requirements, irrespective 
of whether an EA or EIS is issued by the Commission.
    The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the opportunity to 
participate in the upcoming scoping meetings identified below, and to 
solicit your scoping comments.

Scoping Meetings

    SMUD and the Commission staff will hold three scoping meetings, (1) 
in the daytime and (2) in the evening, to help us identify the scope of 
issues to be addressed in the APEA.
    The daytime scoping meeting will focus on resource agency concerns, 
while the evening scoping meetings are primarily for public input. All 
interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are invited to 
attend any of the meetings, and to help the staff in identifying the 
environmental issues that should be analyzed in the APEA. The times and 
locations of these meetings are as follows:

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               Date                              Time                                 Location
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 9, Tuesday.............  6 p.m.-8 p.m...................  SMUD Customer Services Center, 6301 S
                                                                     Street, Sacramento.
September 10, Wednesday..........  9 a.m.-4 p.m...................  SMUD Customer Services Center, 6301 S
                                                                     Street, Sacramento.
September 11, Thursday...........  6 p.m.-8 p.m...................  Building C, County Government Center, 2850
                                                                     Fairlane Court, Placerville.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To help focus discussions, Scoping Document 1 is available for 
public review at the Sacramento Public Library (828 I Street), the El 
Dorado County Library (345 Fair Lane, Placerville) and on SMUD's hydro 
relicensing Web page http://www.smud.org/relicensing. Scoping Document 
1 outlines the subject areas to be addressed in the APEA.
    SD1 is available for review at the Commission in the Public 
Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``FERRIS'' link. Enter the docket number 
excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access 
the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support at 
[email protected] or toll-free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, 
(202) 502-8659.
    You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm to be notified via email of new filings and issuances 
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC 
Online Support.
    Based on all written comments received, a Scoping Document 2 (SD2) 
may be issued. SD2 will include a revised list of issues, based on the 
scoping sessions.

Objectives

    At the scoping meetings, the SMUD and FERC staff will: (1) 
Summarize the environmental issues tentatively identified for analysis 
in the APEA; (2) solicit from the meeting participants all available 
information, especially quantifiable data, on the resources at issue; 
(3) encourage statements from experts and the public on issues that 
should be analyzed in the APEA, including viewpoints in opposition to, 
or in support of, the staffs' preliminary views; (4) determine the 
resource issues to be addressed in the APEA; and (5) identify those 
issues that require a detailed analysis, as well as those issues that 
do not require a detailed analysis.

Procedures

    The meetings will be recorded by a stenographer and will become 
part of the formal record of the Commission proceeding on the project.
    Individuals, organizations, and agencies with environmental 
expertise and concerns are encouraged to attend the meetings and to 
help define and clarify the issues to be addressed in the APEA.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-21529 Filed 8-21-03; 8:45 am]
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